- Nevermore - Biology Hall -
"Wow, what's inside?"
A girl wearing glasses said aloud.
"We don't know; Professor Orloff brought the terrarium in this morning."
"Maybe a snake?"
"Hey, I can't see—move aside!!"
The pupils, dressed in their purple uniforms, were making a racket as they crowded around a small glass-walled terrarium, situated in the corridor between the students' desks.
It was the second lesson of the day, Biology with Professor Orloff. Today he began his class in a very good mood, or at least in a mood not quite as bad as usual.
"Be quiet and listen carefully. A few days ago, Mr Stone was kind enough to travel all the way to Pennsylvania to collect an extremely rare biological specimen on my behalf."
"Today we'll talk a little about the anatomy, physiology and biodiversity of arachnids…"
Orloff stopped his life support machine right in front of the three large blackboards covered in notes written in white chalk.
"What's in the tank, Professor?!!!"
Before he could finish his introduction, a student interrupted abruptly; with Professor Orloff's arrival, everyone had been forced to take their seats.
"You won't let me teach my class until I explain what's in the terrarium, will you?"
Orloff said in a resigned tone; it was always the same whenever he brought a specimen to teach a class.
"Probably not!!!" "I don't think so, Professor!!!" "Definitely!!"
Several students replied, their eyes still fixed on the glass tank. The leaves and small branches inside the terrarium were shaking at the top, proving that there was something alive inside.
"First documented in Volume 88 of the Edinburgh Magazine in 1821, they are known as Cathedral Spiders. At the Church of Saint-Eustache in Paris, Father Dubois noticed that one of his lamps consumed more oil than the others and always went out first."
The students finally stopped looking at the terrarium and fixed their gaze on Professor Orloff's words.
"Dubois stayed up several nights to investigate the cause of this phenomenon; eventually, he spotted a spider of surprising size descending from the ceiling on a silk thread and drinking the oil from that lamp."
"Oil, really, Professor? Wouldn't that be bad for its diet?"
Ajax asked as he tapped his finger against the glass of the tank, the top of which was covered by a black cloth, and the only thing visible was a small dish sitting in the centre.
Ajax was sitting in the front row, a place he didn't usually sit in.
"In 1800, most of the oil used for lamps at the time was whale oil, an ideal dietary supplement for an arachnid of that size, as it didn't have to go out hunting."
"Common arachnids aren't capable of growing very large due to the amount of oxygen in the air."
"Is there very little oxygen, Professor?"
A girl asked as she leafed through her textbook.
"It's more of a physiological limitation; their phyllotracheae aren't capable of transporting enough oxygen to large tissues, their circulatory system is inefficient, and their exoskeleton would be too heavy if they were any larger."
"Unusual beasts, on the other hand, have developed a new organ known as the Superior Tracheae, a series of tubes that carry oxygen directly to the tissues."
"Overcoming that size restriction."
"Would anyone like to feed her so we can have a look?"
Orloff's green eyes swept over the faces of each of his students, who all took a step back in unison, looked away or bowed their heads.
"Miss Firth, you do us the honour. On my desk you will find a bottle of whale oil to feed our little pet; it will be the class pet for this term."
The voice coming from the small speaker on Professor Orloff's machine drained the colour from Divina's face; she had her hands tucked into the pockets of her blazer.
"You must be joking!!!"
Divina was sitting far from the front row, next to Bianca; the chances of her being picked at random by the professor were extremely slim.
"Do you know what's going on?"
William whispered softly into Enid's ear, sitting next to her. When she'd heard it was about a giant spider that fed on oil, Enid had taken his hand under the table and intertwined her fingers with Will's.
Enid couldn't stand insects, let alone giant ones.
"It's because of Pranks Day. When Orloff found the culprits, Divina was with them."
"Did she have anything to do with the eel prank?"
"She was just unlucky. Apparently, she knew the girlfriend of one of the culprits and had lent her her phone charger."
"So the teacher saw them together when she wanted it back. You really do love rumours."
Taking advantage of the fact that Orloff's attention was focused on Divina and the mermaids, William moved a little closer to Enid.
"My passion for rumours was what brought us together in the first place, so you should be grateful."
Enid replied, wrinkling her nose like a little rabbit; at least, William found the gesture adorable.
"What brought us together was my courage in approaching you first...!!"
Before William could finish his sentence, a crumpled ball of paper hit him on the forehead; he looked up to see Yoko gesturing at him and shaking her phone.
"Sign language...?"
William asked, tilting his head.
"Check your phone, she must have sent you a message."
Without waiting for his reply, Enid pulled the phone out of William's pocket; the notification bubbles showed several messages from Yoko.
[Hey Will, take the place of that shy sea urchin!!!]
[She can't stand spiders—in fact, what girl can stand insects?!!]
[Stop flirting and answer me!!!]
The messages were followed by a sticker of an angry cartoon bat with a vein on its forehead about to burst.
[She can manage on her own.]
[Really? Have you had a look?]
William turned and saw that Divina had stood up; she seemed to be arguing something quietly with Bianca. Divina had clenched her fists, showing just how nervous she was.
"Is something wrong, Miss Firth, or will it take all day to carry out my instructions?"
"Please, Bianca, do it for me!!!"
Divina whispered pleadingly.
"No way."
"Will would do it for me!!"
"Then ask him."
Bianca replied in a tone louder than necessary. Divina lifted her head and shot her a pleading look that met William's gaze.
"Please let me do it, Professor Orloff, so we can continue with the lesson before we run out of time."
"Go ahead, Mr Stone. Be careful, as his fangs are longer than usual."
Professor Orloff's fondness for William as a student had grown considerably; this included the various conversations they'd had previously about biology.
(And yet he wanted a girl to feed the spider; it would be best not to upset Professor Orloff in future.)
William thought to himself as he rose from his seat, walked to the front of the classroom and picked up the glass bottle filled with a yellowish oil; as he removed the stopper, a strong fishy smell assaulted his nostrils.
He opened a small door on the side of the terrarium and took out the metal dish, filled it with a little of the oil and put it back in its place.
The whole procedure required William to reach into the cathedral spider's small habitat twice.
"Pay attention: cathedral spiders are larger than tarantulas; they hunt rats, birds and, on occasion, prey larger than themselves."
"Their venom is not fatal, but it causes their victims to fall into a prolonged coma."
William stepped aside and listened to Professor Orloff's explanation, whilst watching the large black-haired spider with the butterfly pattern on its abdomen descend from the highest point of the glass tank on a silk thread; its long fangs looked like straws and it immediately began to suck up the oil.
"Just as you'd expect from the most popular boy."
Rowan muttered as he adjusted his glasses.
"Don't you like Will?"
Xavier remarked with a smile; he was sitting next to Rowan.
(He's everything I'm not; I'm an outcast in a school of outcasts—what an achievement.)
Rowan didn't say those words, which would only make one of his few friends feel uncomfortable.